Whole foods and other things for optimal living.

Not everyone truly appreciates my ambitious baking ventures, which is why I get really excited when my good friend Lauren's birthday rolls around. She gets it. This year I was elated to adapt this colorful Joy the Baker recipe for her birthday festivities.

Last year I went the super everything-free route with some iced pastel gluten-free mini cakes. They turned out pretty good, but I understand not everyone has a palette for 100% unrefined desserts. This time I wanted to make a cake that was likely to please the majority of the partaking tastebuds while still using unconventional, high quality ingredients. With several reports of the cake's remains being consumed the next day for breakfast, I think I may have succeeded.

With the guide of this genius recipe (and a couple reasonable tweaks), I was able to spend less time wondering how/if the cake would turn out and more time perfecting the flavor accents -- in this case, the rose-infused coconut whipped topping with pistachios.

About the cake: the fatty avocado lends a nutritious hand to the small amount of butter the recipe calls for, making it moist and flavorful. The cornmeal gives the cake an earthy quality and the beautiful green color is unusually appetizing.

please note the Del Taco burrito lending character to a stellar tablescape

If you don't have buttermilk (I didn't), combine milk and vinegar or lemon juice and set aside while you start the batter.

In a medium sized bowl, sift together flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside. Set the four eggs out on the counter to come to room temperature while you beat the butter and sugar.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter on medium speed until softened and pliable. Add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the avocado and beat another minute to incorporate. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is thoroughly mixed.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating 1 minute after the addition of each egg. Beat in vanilla extract.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half of the flour mixture, all of the buttermilk, and then the rest of the flour mixture. Beat just until combined.

Divide the dough between the two loaf pans and place in the oven. Turn the oven down to 325 degrees F. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.

Rose-Infused Whipped Coconut Topping

3 cans full fat coconut milk, chilled over night

1/3 cup coconut sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 rose tea bag

Invert cans of chilled coconut milk and open. Strain out liquid and dump hardened cream into a chilled mixing bowl. Beat until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla. Cut open rose tea bag and dump half of the contents into the whipped coconut cream mixture. Fold in until just blended. Add more to taste.

Pile half of the topping into the center of the cake before adding the second layer. Let it goop out of the cracks. Add remaining whipped cream to the top of the cake.

Seasons are sort of a foreign concept in California. As a result, when the weather finally drops below 80 at the end of October, this girl books it to Trader Joe's to hoard canned pumpkin and cinnamon brooms as if they are only available to the public during certain temperatures.

Tonight, the "cool" Fall weather inspired me to make this thick, creamy, vegan chai and I could not keep it to myself. Give it a try, or a chai, depending on how much you like puns.

This recipe was sort of inspired by my boyfriend. He's not a "sweets" person (I know, I try not to judge him for it), so I often find myself trying to coax him into indulging so I'm not alone in my glutony. If the sweet is in donut form, there's a 50/50 chance he will be into it, and those are good odds. Eclairs were as creative as I could get within these confines and they also happened to conform to my criteria for sweets as well, which is "pretty much anything". Did I mention they are amazing?

After many failed attempts I have finally made this whole food treat completely vegan. A puffy pate a choux-based pastry without eggs?? Don't ask me how, but I've done it. Ok, go ahead and ask me...here's the recipe.

Bring 8.5 oz. water, coconut oil, salt and coconut sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and add the flour mixture all at once while stirring rapidly with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together to form a ball. Cook dough over low heat while stirring. Remove from heat and slowly mix in mashed potato mixture.

Place dough in pastry bag/plastic baggie and pipe mini eclairs onto baking sheet. They aren't going to spread, so make sure they're the size you want them when done.

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for approximately 20 more minutes.

If you're from Los Angeles and/or you frequent the Eastside, you most likely know what Best Fish Taco in Ensenada is. It's an eclectically decorated hole-in-the-wall restaurant with a weird name, whose clientele is strangely diverse. They even host a random standup comedy night on their tiny patio, which has attracted the likes of Aziz Ansari, Maria Bamford, Patton Oswalt and many, many more.

Well, I live really close to Best Fish (we locals don't have time for that "Taco in Ensendada" nonsense). So close that if someone is coming to my house for the first time, I just tell them to go there. The temptation is right at my doorstep to mack on some $2 tacos when I'm feeling lazy, so I set out to make something equally as delicious. I can't say these take care of the laziness factor, as they do require me to do more than throw on a hoodie and step outside of my house, but the effort is well worth it!

Besides being full of vitamins, brussels sprouts are are great for lowering cholesterol and maintaining good blood health. As if that weren't enough, this cruciferous vegetable contains a high amount of glucosinolate and other important phytonutrients that help protect against cancer.

Also, don't even think about peeling the gorgeous, glossy purple skin off of those eggplants. That's where some of the best nutrients in this dish are found. Although, found maybe isn't the best noun to describe these guys, since that flashy, vibrant coating is anything but hidden. Nasusin is an amazing phytonutrient located within the eggplant skin that is a potent antioxidant and a protector of the lipids found in brain cell membranes. So it's good for your brain, dummy.

2. "Bread" the eggplant slices by dipping them in the flaxseed "egg" mix, then giving them a good roll in the ground almond mix and laying them on a greased baking sheet, or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (don't use wax paper!).

3. Bake eggplant slices for about 7 minutes on each side until golden brown.

4. While eggplant is baking, grill the marinated brussel sprouts (with all liquid from balsamic marinade) in a shallow pan until liquid starts to evaporate. Deglaze with 1/4 cup of water and cover. Cook on low heat until sprouts are tender. Set aside.

5. When eggplant is done, prepare the tacos by spreading cashew cheese or hummus on each tortilla and filling them with eggplant and sprouts. If you'd like, top with salsa, avocados/guacamole and/or sour cream.